Things Will Never Be The Same Again
by Babylove03
Summary: Eve is back and set to unleash more terror on the Bay. And what she has planned this time will shake this small town to it's very core.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Belle sat on the beach resting her head on her knees. She was all cried out; she didn't think there was another tear left inside her anywhere. She thought about the event that happened just two days ago that had once again turned her life upside down. She knew that it would come one day but it didn't lessen the pain of it now that it had happened.

She knew Ric would never want to know her again and the whole town now knew that she was a murderer.

_Two Days Ago_

"_Ric, I'm sorry," Belle cried._

"_You're sorry? You caused the fall that caused him to die sooner than he should have. And all this time you've said nothing, and all you have to say is sorry?" Ric yelled._

"_I know I should have said something. I was going to when I first got back, but you were already hurting enough I didn't want to add to it. And then as time went on it just got harder to say anything," Belle tried to explain._

"_And that makes it alright does it?" scoffed Ric._

"_No, I'm just trying to explain," Belle said._

"_Well it's not good enough," Ric replied with a touch of finality to it. "I don't want to see you anymore."_

"_Ric, please," pleaded Belle._

"_Belle, you killed Flynn. How could you think we'd ever come back from that?" Ric asked. "I want you to go."_

_With that Belle turned and left the Caravan Park in tears._

Back to the Present

Since then Belle had also had a confrontation Cassie since then. And ever since the whole town looked at her differently as word had spread of her confession. The only people who had been remotely kind to her since then had been Tasha and Irene, and even then every time she looked at them she saw their disappointment and sadness.

She consoled herself with the fact that at least a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. But in its place a new weight had been added. The weight of everyone's varying degrees of anger. She wasn't sure what she should do now. She considered taking Cassie's suggestion of leaving town. She didn't have much to stay for.

Somewhere In the Bush

Eve looked around the abandoned warehouse with an evil smile on her face. This place would be perfect. It wasn't a huge place, but big enough for what she wanted and it had several rooms which would be handy. The door to the room she was particularly interested in was a big iron door with a strong bolt on the outside. She had also added several more. The room also had steady iron bars across the window that no one would ever be able to break. It was exactly what she needed.

And even better this warehouse was even more secluded than the last one she had blown up. It looked like no one had been here in years. She wouldn't have to worry about being discovered out here, once she put her plan into motion.

She looked down at her checklist for her latest plan to terrorise the Bay. She marked off another item, and looked at what was next on her list. It was time. Everything was in readiness.

It was show time.

Later That Afternoon

Peter was in his office staring at the whiteboard. It contained a summarised version of the facts of the Stalker case. Ever since Eve had announced her return by planting a bomb in his apartment he had been even more urgent to find her before she was able to hurt anyone.

Unfortunately it was already too late for that. Eve had claimed her first victim, that of young Charlie. The boy who had lived out in the bush and had been trying to befriend Kim Hyde and Rachel Armstrong. He knew it was her, because in true Eve style, she had admitted it when she had sent him an email telling him where the body was. It was just another way for her to torment him. And now the word was out that Eve was back the residents of the Bay were beginning to panic more than a little bit, increasing the urgency even further.

Peter was interrupted from his thoughts by a knock at the door. He turned around to see Jack Holden, the constable assigned to help him on the case, standing there.

"Hi, detective. I just thought I'd let you know that I was heading home if you didn't need me," Jack said.

Peter could see that Jack was hoping he didn't. He had to give Jack credit, he'd been working back late with him on this case almost every night for the last few weeks.

"Sure, go. I'll see you first thing in the morning," Peter replied.

"Thanks," said Jack appreciatively. Before he closed the door, he said to Peter "You should try and get a good night sleep yourself. It might help."

"Thanks for the advice. I'll see you tomorrow," Peter replied, before turning back to his whiteboard.

At the Bachelor Pad That Night

"So where are Kim and Dan?" Martha asked Jack as they sat down to dinner.

Martha had to admit it was nice to be able to sit down to a nice meal with Jack. It had been a while since they had been able too.

"Well Dan's over at Leah's and Kim's working late at the gym doing paperwork," replied Jack.

"Is he still blaming himself for what happened to Charlie?" questioned Martha.

"I think he is a bit, though he won't say anything," Jack responded, concerned for his friend and flatmate.

Martha could see the concern on his face and put her hand on his reassuringly. Jack smiled appreciatively at the gesture.

They ate the rest of their meal, just enjoying each other's company.

At the Gym

Kim was just finishing the last of the paperwork. Ever since he'd found out Zoe, or Eve or whatever she called herself, was back and that she had killed Charlie, he had thrown himself into his work. That on top of what had happened to his dad had made it really hard to cope.

He had been made manager of the gym recently and he had been enjoying until recent events. He knew he wasn't being fair to his girlfriend Rachel the way he was becoming a bit work obsessed, but he also knew that he didn't want to take his emotions out on her. He felt, though, that he was finally coming out of the funk he had been in.

He decided he'd make it up to her tomorrow, when he had some time off. He'd already begun organising a picnic by ordering a hamper from the diner and calling Rachel and asking her to keep her day free.

Kim was disturbed when he thought he heard something out in the Surf Club. He walked to the door of the gym carefully and looked out. Despite all the lights except the gyms being off it was still fairly easy to see around. He didn't see anything and berated himself for being so paranoid.

Kim turned and walked back to the counter. He laughed at himself quietly over his paranoia as he picked up his back pack. He turned off the lights, locked up the gym and began to head out. He didn't hear the person walking up behind him quietly with big spanner in there hands. Before he even got to the entrance of the Surf Club the he was hit on the back of the head and fell to the ground unconscious. Eve stood over his body smiling evilly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

When Kim woke up he found his hands tied behind his back to a pole coming out of the ground. He looked around and judging from what he could see it was an abandoned building of some kind. He could see daylight from outside the window to the left telling him that it was clearly the next day. Movement to his left caught his eye and he turned his head to see Eve standing near the door with a gun in her hand, smiling.

"Well it's about time you woke up," Eve said casually.

Kim looked at Eve trying to get his thoughts together. "Where am I?" he asked.

"Where no one will find you, unless I tell them where you are," Eve said, enjoyment clearly in her eyes.

"What do you want?" Kim asked, stalling for time.

"You really disappointed me, the way you just forgot I ever existed," Eve said, the smile leaving her face.

"What did you expect me to wait for you?" Kim asked incredulously. "Even if I knew you were alive do you really think I would wait around for a psychopath like you?"

"Please, Kim. Flattery will get you nowhere," Eve replied. "I mean first you shack up with Hayley. By the way did you enjoy my messing with the paternity results?"

"That was you?" Kim asked.

"It was just to easy, I couldn't resist," Eve confirmed. "And then you had to go get serious with your doctor friend. I wasn't very happy the way I was just forgotten like I didn't exist."

"Yeah, well. You weren't worth remembering," Kim replied.

"Careful Kim. You wouldn't want me to have an accident with this thing would you?" Eve asked, holding up the gun. "Well as much as I would love to stay and chat some more, I have other things to do. I'm a very busy person you know."

And with a smile Eve turned and walked out of the room. Kim saw the door close and heard several bolts slam home and several more locks click into place.

At the Beach House

Belle came downstairs from her room, where she had been hiding most of the morning. She still hadn't quite decided what she was going to do yet, but she was quite certain she didn't want to see anyone.

She walked to the fridge and grabbed out some juice to pour herself a glass, when she heard someone coming up behind her.

"How are you going today?" Tasha asked.

Belle turned around to see Tasha standing by the counter. It was becoming obvious now that Tasha was several months pregnant.

"I'm okay I guess. I mean I have had enough time to prepare for this reaction," Belle replied.

"Most of them are in shock. You need to give them some time," Tasha tried to reassure her.

"Why don't you hate me?" Belle couldn't resist asking.

"It was an accident. And it couldn't have been easy to live with. Besides I'm hardly a saint," Tasha replied, looking at her stomach. Despite the fact that she already loved her baby, and that Robbie was starting to bond with it too, she still felt guilty about the whole situation with the Believers.

"That was hardly your fault, you didn't do anything wrong," Belle told her, knowing what Tasha had been referring too. "Beside you were the victim in all of that."

"The point is, that it's not like you meant to hurt Flynn. You just panicked. I hardly think that makes you a bad person," said Tasha.

Tasha then walked over and gave Belle a hug. "You hang in there okay. Things will get better, I promise."

At the Caravan Park

"I still can't believe it," Cassie said once more referring to Belle's confession the other day. "She killed Flynn and thought it would be okay not to say anything."

"Cass, will you just leave it!" Ric exclaimed annoyed that Cassie kept going on about it. He was both angry and hurt about the whole situation and didn't need to deal with Cassie's dramatics right now.

"I'm sorry Ric. I know this is especially hard on you the way she fooled you like that," Cassie said sympathetically. "I knew she was a cow, but I didn't think she was that big of one."

"Cassie!" Sally said warningly from the kitchen. "That's enough!"

"How can you be so calm about this? I mean we could have had more time with Flynn if it wasn't for her!" cried out Cassie.

"I'm aware of that. But it was an accident Cassie, and I think she feels bad enough about it," Sally replied.

Ric looked at his foster mother for a moment. "You knew, didn't you?"

Sally nodded. "Flynn remembered the fall after he woke up. He said he had caught a girl sneaking into your room and when he asked who she was she panicked and tried to run past him but knocked him on the way down the stairs. It wasn't hard to put two and two together."

"My question remains. How can you be so forgiving?" Cassie asked.

"I'll admit the first couple of weeks if I had seen her I probably would have lost it at her. But Flynn asked me to forgive her, and that it truly was an accident. And I figure it must be hard thing to live with, especially for a girl her age. So I decided to do what Flynn asked," explained Sally.

She then heard her daughter crying for her upstairs and got up and left the room, leaving Cassie and Ric thinking over what she had said.

At the Bachelor Pad

Rachel walked into the house and found Martha there washing dishes. "Have you seen Kim by any chance?"

Martha turned around. "No actually, I haven't. He didn't come home last night I don't think. Jack and I thought he must've done an all nighter at the Gym or else with you at your place."

"No, he isn't at either place. We were supposed to meet at the diner and go out for the day, but he didn't show up," Rachel said with concern.

"Have your tried Irene's. I mean he's been spending a bit of time there lately since his dad went away," Martha suggested.

"No I haven't. Thanks I'll try that," Rachel said. "In the meantime if you see him will you tell him to call me?"

"I will," Martha replied.

With that Rachel left and Martha returned to the dishes. She hated doing them. In fact she hated doing any housework, especially at a place where she didn't actually live. But she and Rachel found that they were often cleaning something when they were over. If they didn't the place would wind up being declared a health hazard the way Jack and Kim in particular seemed to like to live.

It was a typical boys house she supposed, but although she loved Jack, she had decided that both he and Kim were complete slobs.

Martha was so engrossed in what she was doing, she didn't hear the person walk into the house. Eve walked up behind Martha with a cloth in her hand. Then as quickly as a snake striking, Eve put the cloth over Martha's nose and mouth. Martha struggled against the attack, but quickly grew weak as she inhaled the chemical on the cloth. Within minutes she was unconscious in Eve's arms.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Belle was at the Beach house watching some TV on her own. Irene was still at work and Robbie and Tasha were off somewhere together. Belle didn't feel like going out and facing people. It was just too hard dealing with everyone else's anger when she was struggling with her own emotions.

She was just considering whether she'd be nice and start dinner when she heard a knock on the front door. For a moment Belle considered not answering, when there was another knock. She decided she should bite the bullet and just answer it.

"Hello," Lucas said when she opened the door.

"Lucas. What are you doing here?" asked Belle in surprise.

She hadn't seen him since before the blow up the other day and had figured she probably wouldn't, seeing as how Lucas was Ric's best friend.

"Hello to you too," Lucas replied half jokingly.

Belle shook her head, "Sorry, I just wasn't expecting to see you." She gestured for him to come in.

Lucas walked past her. "Why, because of what happened?" Lucas questioned.

"Well yeah, I mean Ric is your best mate," Belle explained.

"But you're my friend as well, Belle," Lucas responded. "I figured you could use one right about now."

They sat down on the couch. "Thanks," said Belle appreciatively. "So how are things with you?"

"Getting better slowly. I think it's going to be a while before things get back to normal," Lucas told her.

"Well I guess that's to be expected," Belle agreed.

"How about you?" Lucas asked.

"I'm not sure. I guess I'm mostly numb, you know? Just trying to avoid people I guess," Belle replied.

"Fair enough. But you can't keep doing it for ever. You have to face them sometime," Lucas said.

"Maybe not," said Belle cryptically.

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked, frowning with concern.

"Well, I've been thinking about leaving town," Belle explained.

"What, just run away?" questioned Lucas.

"Well, yeah, I mean, I did what I came here to do. There's nothing really keeping me here anymore," Belle said sadly.

"You need to give him some time," Lucas told her, getting to the heart of the matter. "Maybe he'll come around."

"I killed his foster father. How is there any way we could possibly get passed that?" Belle asked.

Lucas' response was to give Belle a comforting hug.

At the Bachelor Pad

Jack walked into his house late that night expecting to find Martha, waiting up like she usually did, when she was staying over. However what he found was a dark house with no Martha.

"Martha," Jack called out, as he turned the living room light on.

After receiving no reply he walked into his bedroom in case she had decided to turn in. But his bed was still made and had obviously not been slept in since he had awoken that morning.

Jack frowned. He was sure he and Martha had said she wanted to stay over that night. Had he misunderstood? He replayed that conversation in his mind before he left for work that morning. No, she had definitely said that she would be staying over, he thought.

Could she have changed her mind and decided to go home after all? As he was looking around he noticed a folded note on the table with his name written on it. He picked it up and opened it. He found two words written on it:

**Tick Tock.**

Jack got a chill run down his spine. Zoe, or Eve or whatever her name was had been here. And now Martha was missing. He prayed that the assumption he was making was wrong, but he was starting to panic.

At the Warehouse

Kim looked at Martha who lay on the floor. Eve had dropped the unconscious Belle on the floor a while ago without saying a word and walked out again. Kim leaned his head back against the pole he was still tied too, thinking things through. Martha was untied. Which meant that when she awoke, she could untie him. That would be a start to being able to find a way out of there.

When Martha began to stir, he turned his head back to her. "Martha," he called softly, just in case Zoe was still close by. "Martha."

Martha moaned as she began to wake up. She could hear someone calling her name fuzzily from a distance. But her mind was still foggily and it was a real struggle to wake up.

"Martha," Kim called once more as Martha began to pick herself up.

"Kim?" Martha asked groggily.

"Yeah, it's me, are you awake?" Kim asked, concerned for his friend.

"Barely," Martha replied slowly getting her mind working again, as she looked around the dense room. "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure, but Zoe's behind it," Kim told her.

"Zoe!" Martha exclaimed.

"Yeah," Kim replied. "Listen, quick untie me."

Martha crawled over to Kim and got to work quickly to untie him. After she did Kim pulled his arms around slowly and rubbed his wrists.

"What now?" Martha asked.

"I'm not sure," was Kim's only response.

At the Caravan Park

The phone was ringing, as Alf flicked the light on and did up his robe. Whoever it was, had better have a good reason, to be ringing at this time of night.

"Hello," Alf said, yawning.

"Alf, it's Jack," Jack said urgently.

"Jack. Do you have any flammin' idea what time it is?" Alf asked incredulously.

"I know it's late. But I really need to know if Martha is there," Jack said.

"I thought Martha was staying at your place," Alf replied.

"So she definitely didn't go back there?" Jack clarified.

"No. Jack what's going on?" Alf asked, clearly confused.

"I'll explain later, thanks Alf," Jack said, hanging up before Alf could say anymore.

Jack's fears had all but been confirmed. Zoe had to be behind Martha's disappearance. There was no other possible explanation for where she could be. He looked over toward the kitchen and his heart sank further. He walked over to the bench and picked up Martha's engagement ring, still sitting there, wondering where she was and if she was okay.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Peter had arrived at Jack's place after receiving a frantic call from the young policeman, telling him that Martha was missing and he thought that Zoe might be responsible for it.

Jack handed Peter the note as soon as he had gotten inside. "It has to be Zoe, what other explanation could there be?" Jack asked.

"Are you sure Martha's missing?" Peter questioned.

"Yes. I rang Alf's, I rang Tasha & Robbie I even rang Leah's. No one has seen her. There is no sign of her anywhere," Jack answered, slightly annoyed at Peter's question.

"It's alright mate. I'm just going over everything," Peter said. "So Martha's missing. We know Zoe's been here. I think you're probably right the two are related."

"So what are we going to do about it?" Jack asked, grabbing his jacket, ready to head out.

"Hold on a minute, Jack. The last thing we need to do is run out of here half cocked. We'll get forensics to go over this place tomorrow, though I doubt they'll find anything," Peter told Jack trying to slow him down a bit.

The ironical thing about the situation wasn't lost on Peter. Throughout this investigation, it had been Peter getting worked up about finding Zoe before anything happened, and Jack, along with Tracey Thompson, the Detective from the city, calming him down. But now the tables were reversed, though he didn't blame the young constable.

"Tomorrow? We can't wait that long. We have to find Martha now!" Jack yelled at Peter.

"I know that you're scared Jack. But you need to calm down. There really there isn't a lot we can do tonight," Peter replied. "If I know Zoe, she's already long gone. And we can't afford to be going blind on this."

"So what are you suggesting?" Jack asked, trying to take Peter's advice.

"As impossible as this sounds, try and get some sleep," Peter replied, the notion sounding ridiculous even to him. "And then first thing in the morning we'll go over everything like a fine tooth comb. We'll talk to everyone to see where and when she was last seen, and see if there is any hint of where Zoe might have taken her."

"You really think I could get any sleep right now," Jack asked incredulously.

"I know it's hard, but it's what both of us need. I'm not going to pull you from the case, even though I should, because I know you need to be involved right now. But the last thing I need is for you to be suffering from sleep deprivation as well as an emotional involvement in this case," Peter explained. "So please take my advice and try and sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

And with that Peter let himself out, leaving Jack alone in his house.

The Next Morning

Jack was in his kitchen, making himself a cup of coffee. Despite his best efforts, Jack had only managed to get an hour or two's sleep. He'd been so worried and wound up he just hadn't been able to.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a knock at the door. He walked over and answered it and found Rachel standing on the door step.

"Rachel. What are you doing here?" Jack asked.

"I'm looking for Kim, have you seen him?" enquired Rachel.

Jack couldn't hold back a yawn. "Not for a couple of days actually."

"No one seems to have. It's like he's disappeared off of the face of the earth," Rachel replied.

That got Jack's attention. "What do you mean no one's seen him?"

"Just what I said. The last place I can place him was at the gym the night before last. You know when he was working late," Rachel explained.

"You know you're right. I haven't seen him since before then. I guess I just assumed he was with you or something," Jack replied. "I mean, he's been really distant lately."

"That's okay. I wasn't really sure he was missing either at first. But someone should have seen or heard from him by now," Rachel said, clearly worried.

Then she looked at Jack properly for the first time since she had gotten there and realised how bad he looked. "No offence, Jack. But you aren't looking so hot right now, is everything alright?"

That comment didn't really surprise Jack, although he hadn't looked in a mirror yet. "Not really," was all he said.

Rachel frowned. "Jack, what's going on?"

Jack hesitated, not sure if he should say anything or not. But in the end he felt like he had too. "Martha's missing. And I think Zoe had something to do with it."

"Oh my God. How is that possible?" Rachel asked.

Jack sat down on the couch. "I'm not sure. But she wasn't here when I got home last night. And I couldn't find her anywhere. And I found a note with Zoe's catchphrase Tick Tock."

Rachel sat down next to him. "That's what the phone call last night was about?"

Jack nodded. Then his mind kicked back into gear. "And you said that Kim hasn't been seen by anyone in over 24 hours."

"That's right. Wait you don't think that Zoe's involved do you?" Rachel asked, getting scared.

"I'm not sure. But he did have a relationship with her," Jack replied, before realising he probably shouldn't be talking about this with Rachel. "Look I really don't know. But, either way can you keep this to yourself for the time being. I shouldn't have even said anything to you."

Rachel was stunned by the possibility that Zoe was involved. "Ah. Yeah, sure. But you will keep me informed won't you?"

"I'll try," Jack said as he stood up. "I better go get ready for work."

With that he went to get ready.

At the Beach House

Belle came down the stairs to the lounge room that morning, still in her pyjamas. She saw Irene in the kitchen who looked up when she heard Belle approaching.

"Hi, love. How are you this morning?" Irene asked compassionately. She knew what a hard time Belle was having.

Belle sat down in a stool next to the bench. "Okay, I guess."

"You planning to get dressed, and oh I don't know leave the house?" Irene enquired.

"And give the lynch mob a clear shot? I don't think so," Belle replied.

"You can't stay inside here forever you know. You have to go out sometime," Irene said.

"Why. I like it here," Belle replied, looking down at the bench. That's when she saw a familiar CD sitting on the bench. "Where did you find this?"

Irene looked over to see what Belle was referring too. "I was tidying up this morning and found that next to the stereo. I didn't recognise it so I left it out to ask you kids about it."

"It's Ric's," Belle told her. "I'd borrowed it from him before everything had happened. You know, I'd forgotten I even had it."

Irene looked at Belle who was staring sadly at the CD and her heart broke. "I'm sorry love."

"Why? Everything that's happened has been my fault. I've only got myself to blame," Belle said, still looking at the CD. "I guess I should take this back to him." Belle stood up to go get dressed.

"Love are you sure that's a good idea?" Irene asked, worriedly.

"The best thing would be if he can make a clean break. That means he should get all his stuff back as soon as possible," Belle explained. "Don't worry I'll be fine."

At the Caravan Park

Belle walked up to the door, with the CD in her hand, stealing herself for the possibly tough confrontation she had in front of her. She planned to just drop it off and leave without delaying things with chatter.

When she got to the door, she found it closed, which usually meant no one was home. But just in case they had just closed it for some other reason she decided to knock. When she did, the door creaked a bit. It had been slightly opened after all.

She pushed on the door and it opened completely. "Hello," she called out, walking slowly into the house. What she saw shocked her.

She was staring at a woman in front of the mantle piece, and the words Tick Tock sprayed on the wall. The place was trashed.

Eve stared at the young girl in shock, this wasn't supposed to happen. They both stared at each other for a few seconds. And then Eve, the first to react, lunged at Belle. She pounced on Belle, before she could react.

The last thing Belle remembered was falling to the floor and everything going black.


End file.
